LANSING, Mich. — The following is a statement from School Finance Research Collaborative Project Director Robert McCann on Education Trust-Midwest’s new report that supports the Collaborative’s landmark school funding adequacy study:
“We welcome Education Trust-Midwest’s support for the School Finance Research Collaborative’s research, particularly the Collaborative’s call for policymakers to adopt its recommended weighted funding formula, which includes additional funding for special education, English Language Learners and students living in poverty. The COVID-19 pandemic has shined a spotlight on huge inequities and the lack of fairness in Michigan’s school funding approach. Lawmakers grappling with the possibility of school cuts amid this public health crisis need to heed the recommendations of the SFRC report during the pandemic and beyond so our kids don’t continue falling behind.”
The School Finance Research Collaborative is a diverse group of business leaders and education experts, from Metro Detroit to the U.P., who agree it’s time to fix Michigan’s broken school funding approach. In 2018, the SFRC completed Michigan’s first comprehensive school adequacy study that determined the true cost of educating a child in our state.
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